RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Dissociable Roles of Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex and Anterior Cingulate in Subjective Valuation of Prospective Effort
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 079467
DO 10.1101/079467
A1 Patrick S. Hogan
A1 Joseph K. Galaro
A1 Vikram S. Chib
YR 2017
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/09/13/079467.abstract
AB The perceived effort level of an action shapes everyday decisions. Despite the importance of these perceptions for decision-making, the behavioral and neural representations of the subjective cost of effort are not well understood. While a number of studies have implicated anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in decisions about effort/reward trade-offs, none have experimentally isolated effort valuation from reward and choice difficulty, a function that is commonly ascribed to this region. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to monitor brain activity while human participants engaged in uncertain choices for prospective physical effort. Our task was designed to examine effort-based decision making in the absence of reward and separated from choice difficulty – allowing us to investigate the brain’s role in effort valuation, independent of these other factors. Participants exhibited subjectivity in their decision-making, displaying increased sensitivity to changes in subjective effort as objective effort levels increased. Analysis of blood-oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) activity revealed that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) encoded the subjective valuation of prospective effort and ACC encoded choice difficulty. These results provide insight into the processes responsible for decision-making regarding effort, dissociating the roles of vmPFC and ACC in prospective valuation of effort and choice difficulty.